From the BBC Site -Trump teed up for a Fight

Trump teed up for a fight
Following the Scottish Government's decision to call in Donald Trump's application for a golf resort in Aberdeenshire, BBC Scotland's Colin Wight travelled to Trump Tower in New York for an exclusive interview with the tycoon.

Mr Trump says people fight him because of who he is
Interview in full
Donald Trump is excited.
He's in his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower on New York's Fifth Avenue and the phones are ringing. Share prices are plummeting.
This, he says with relish, is a challenge. And say what you like about Trump, the man loves a fight.
All this and it's his third wedding anniversary to third wife Melania.
So with more than enough going on in Trumpworld is he still happy to discuss golf? Sure, he's always happy to discuss golf.
I'm in New York to meet The Donald and see what he's provided for golfers here.
At Westchester in the village of Briarcliff Manor, less than an hour's drive away upstate, members include Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood and former president Bill Clinton.
Their names are on their lockers. Membership, which costs $350,000, is not cheap.
Even with the healthy exchange rate, that's a big-time commitment to a good walk spoiled.
The 13th hole here is the most expensive in the United States. It boasts two waterfalls and cost $7m.
'Beautiful and elegant'
The course is closed over the winter, but on the coldest day so far they switch the waterfalls on - using 5,000 gallons a minute. Trump is keen to impress.
He's very happy to discuss his plans for the Menie Estate on the Aberdeenshire coast.
It will, he says, be one of the most beautiful jobs of its kind anywhere in the world. It will top everything else and won't be done in an "atrocious" way. It will be done in a "beautiful and elegant way".
But others are not so sure - especially environmentalists and some local residents.
Trump wants to build two courses, a 450-bedroom hotel, 950 holiday homes and 500 residential units. Half of the championship course will be on a site of special scientific interest.

Jack Nicholson is a member of one of Mr Trump's exclusive clubs
Trump reveals that he originally wanted at least twice as much housing on the 1,500 acre site, but decided against it.
But he insists the environmental work required means he does need the housing to pay for it - otherwise, he says, he'd "lose his shirt".
On public access, he says he will obey the laws of Scotland.
Will it be a closed, gated community? Not decided yet. That will depend on the market.
But despite all the bluster, all the hyperbole, Trump still seems genuinely hurt at the rejection of his plans by Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructure committee.
He can't understand why a project which he claims is so popular came to be thrown out by what he calls "a little roadblock".
He claims he's the real environmentalist.
And he denies he's only in it to line his own pockets, arguing that the jobs will be skilled and all that will work its way back into the local economy.
He admires the first minister, calling Alex Salmond "an amazing man".
He says the Scottish Government did a "great service" in calling in the application.
End result
Trump says his team did nothing inappropriate and amazingly he's honoured by the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the affair. The reason? It may bring change and help Scotland.
Donald Trump, like everyone else, is still awaiting a final decision on Menie. But he has no plans to walk away unless the decision is made for him.
The end result, he says, will be worth all the effort - a "magnificent and majestic" development.
He knows some people fight him simply because he is Donald Trump.
But, he says, that's also why others support him - and he claims that sometimes even his one-time enemies later join his clubs.
Will it ever happen in Scotland? Who knows, he hopes so.
"Now, if you don't mind," he says, "I have a few calls to make."
I bet, and let's hope he remembered the anniversary card.

Trump -eye View and Is this what is right?

The shananigans around this 'development' continue! Just why is this dubious entrepeneur so keen to get his paws on this bit of Scotland. It cannot be just because his Mum hails from here surely.



Let us appraise the situation. The plan evolved from wee Joke McConnell pointing out about the estate at Menie in Aberdeenshire. A coastal site, loads of dunes, ideal golf course area, but it also contains a site of Special Scientific Interest. Now dunes, golf courses and special sites can co-exist remarkably well with give and take on all sides, but this development took on a life of its own. Two golf courses, -then an enormous hotel which from the artists impression looked like a refugee from Brigadoon, -then holiday homes and- then executive houses - and no sign of the fact that the area was NOT scheduled for housing development and that the SSI would be destroyed in 'stabilising' the dunes. It was all or nothing with threats of complete withdrawal if consent refused. In the whaup's book that amounts to bullying.



Alarm bells were ringing loud and clear. The plans in the process had to go to the local authority, which is Aberdeenshire who have always had rather an unique way of dealing with planning. Now you would expect them to be aware of the suitability of this site for development as after all they will ultimately be responsible for the roads, schooling, sewage, water supply and so on - in fact the basics and also have a pretty shrewd idea of the ground conditions and the suitability for building a scheme like this.



Right let's step away from Aberdeenshire and consider the sort of site this is. It is adjacent to the North Sea, well known for its somewhat chilly temperature and bracing winds. The dunes are active - that means they are moving, although a certain degree of sympathetic stabilising has taken place. By that it means working with the natural processes and not trying to control them. Dunes tend to develop a protective layer to the land behind which because it is so near the sea tends to have a high water table. In other words it is a bit soggy and not well-drained with peaty zones. Not the sort of place to be attempting to build houses really as water-tables do tend to fluctuate with time and the amount of precipitation. That is without considering the SSI status.



Now step back again and look at some of the recent statements.

• The sea level in the Med has risen - and it is noticeable. Some getting a bit bothered about it.


• Giant's Causeway is under threat as the sea level rises - up to a metre this century. The likely effects are rather unpleasant reading.


• In November 2007 a storm surge raced south down the North Sea - fortunately the sea defences held this time, but there are many worried faces over this and at sea things were very unpleasant. These surge events are expected to increase.

Now, the whaup knows of no way that the North Sea is going to be immune from this rise in sea level. A rise in sea level means a rise in the level to which the rivers flowing towards this base level which will ricochet upstream. That means increased likelihood of flooding on the Dee, the Don, the Ythan, the Deveron and so on as well as the smaller burns. Wet land is going to get wetter. And with higher sea levels, the water table is also going to rise, with associated problems. Bluntly, saturated land is more prone to flooding.

Now back to Menie. The site is already somewhat waterlogged.

What will happen to the dunes with rising sea levels?

What about the burns finding that base level is changing?

What about a rising water table?

What will happen if a storm surge hits this coast?

Sounds like an ideal place for a housing development to you?

Let us hope that the scrutineers from the Scottish Government take these questions on board.